Making Bodies Matter in IR

Abstract

Neumann’s call for taking bodies more seriously in IR is a welcome intervention but is framed problematically. Through a reading of Butler, I argue that Neumann’s invocation of a ‘physical body’ that needs to be brought into IR is itself an object of discourse, and that Butler would deny the distinction Neumann makes between the social and physical body. I also discuss Neumann’s call for a dialogue with the physical sciences in reference to recent works associated with the ‘new materialisms’ and conclude by calling for critical attention to the ways in which bodies are brought into IR theory.